The present invention is directed to a robot which removes open top boxes, having a product therein, in sequence from a pallet, inverts the box while holding the box and product, places the box on a box stripper for separating the product from the box, removes the empty box, picks up the product and loads the product on a magazine conveyor at the proper location.
Many products are shipped in open top boxes in layers on pallets. However, when the pallets reach their destination, the product must be removed from the boxes and positioned for use. For example only, the boxes may contain a plurality of folded or unassembled cardboard boxes which are to be used in other operations to contain different products.
In order to speed up the unloading process and economize this operation, the present invention is directed to a robot which locates and removes stacked boxes, containing a product to be unloaded, from a pallet, provides a box stripping machine for assisting in removing the open top box from its product after placement by the robot, unloads the product onto a magazine conveyor that may have a variable amount of product, and picks up and places slip sheets which are positioned between different levels of boxes on a pallet.